Graham Cracker House

I have lots of Christmasy recipes that I was going to try and work through them all, but it didn't happen. Things got pretty hectic, and I had to just try and make it through some of the days with the little girl I watch. These I figured would make a good activity to do with the kids.

I made icing #2. It didn't dry super fast, but was really strong once it did finally dry.

Little Chubb loved it! He really go into decorating, but still needed help putting the frosting on the house. Baby Chubb kind of wanted to sprinkle the sugar snow on, but really she just wanted to eat it once all the candy was on. The girl I watch didn't even want anything to do with decorating and just went straight to eating, so I did most of her decorating.

Salt Dough

I wanted to be a fun mom and do a project with Little Chubb. It conveniently merged a Pinterest idea, a Cupboard recipe, and being 'fun' all in one.

2 c. flour
1 c. salt
1 c. water

Mix flour and salt. Slowly add water while mixing until uniformly moistened. Remove from bowl and knead for 6 to 10 minutes. Bake in low oven, 300 degrees.

Little Chubb had fun helping me roll out the dough. He would roll a long snake, then we would make a letter, and he would tell me what it was. I was mildly pleased with how things turned out. The dough rose while baking so it made my craft project turn out a little funky. I'm not sure if I am going to keep it for next year or just toss it.

Those strings didn't stay that long. I trimmed them before Easter...

Here is my conclusion.

First, I didn't realize that people actually kneaded salt dough. But, I did, and I couldn't tell any difference.  This pretty much doubled the time of the entire activity.

Second, 300 degrees was not low enough of an oven. My cut outs browned pretty quickly, so I turned it down lower (I think 200 degrees) and cooked them longer.



Third, and most important, salt dough is horrible on dry skin particularly if it is on the palm of your hand. The skin on my hands hurt from kneading the dough. So, take my advice and don't do this if you also suffer from eczema on the palm of your hands.